Just like their parents, all children experience normal levels of anxiety and worry in their lives. Most of these, as in normal adults, are dealt with automatically and without incident. However, if and when a child experiences an increasing level of anxiety that he/she cannot easily deal with and it leads to a trend toward increasing severity as well as frequency, then this child has developed what medical science refers to as Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Clinical studies in this area reflect amazing similarities in regard to the spiraling-into-frequency effects of continued anxiety in children as compared to adults, even though the subject/issue that is at the heart of the anxiety vary by their degree of association of age. Children experience anxiety about sleeping in the dark as opposed to adults who experience a similar LEVEL of anxiety about losing their job. The resulting effect is, nonetheless, is strikingly similar.
Disorders affected by an anxiety attack are mental/emotional health problems affecting people of all ages, including children of both normal and those with a tendency to anxiety. Amazingly, recent studies indicate that anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health problem in children under the age of puberty. Children with intense and continued disruptions in their daily life that can be closely linked to regular and intense anxiety, just like adults, are candidates for immediate therapy and medication.
The treatment of a pre-pubescent child with an anxiety disorder is much more challenging than that of a similarly afflicted adult. While the effects of a panic attack may appear to be quite similar, the treatments are much more challenging because of the way adult-strength medication functions within the body of a child. When administering other drugs which interact with the central nervous system and are affected by hormone levels, reduced dosage is not solely the answer. However, in the case of antidepressants and the like, reduced strength (i.e. dosage) does not produce similar results because of the hormonal output in an undeveloped physiology.
Resulting studies reflect the assumed outcome in extended cases of medical and behavioral treatment of children with GAD, namely that it requires great care and monitoring of the application of prescription drugs and their related effect over time. In many cases that monitoring and record-keeping greatly exceeds the requirements of a similarly affected adult.
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